The Book Shop Altercation
by Gemmortia
Summary: Wolfstar fan fiction. Female Sirius Black. Alternate muggle universe. Sirius meets Remus and they get along great. What happens when James complicates things? What's happening between him and Lily that makes him act the way he does? *I'm not very good at Summaries or introductions. Read the thing.


I wrapped my big black cardigan tighter around myself as I walked along the footpath, making my way through the busy streets of London on my way to work. 'Why does it always have to be so cold?' I asked myself as I stepped aside to let an elderly woman pass in a little car thing. I sighed, continuing down the street until I found myself outside the bookshop. I paused at the door and took a deep breath, not really wanting to face the day but knowing that if I didn't, it would be like running away and I had done enough of that already.

I pushed the door open and was greeted with the chime of a bell that alerted the staff as to a customer's arrival and a nice wave of heat that was customary to the little shop as the heater was always blasting. I made my way through the rows of books and to the back of the store to the offices and stowed away my old leather satchel in my locker, taking out my MP3 player as I went. I signed in and went out to the counter, opened the till and made sure I had enough money for the day, seeing that I did. I walked around to the door and flipped the red and white sign that indicated to the people of London that The Librum Tabernam is in fact open and ready for business.

The day went slowly and I listened to my music antisocially as I restocked shelves and only ventured to the counter when I heard the bell chime signalling to me that there was a customer in the shop. It was a Tuesday and so it wasn't that busy but a few people came in and bought various books. At around lunch time a girl about the same age as me came in and I noticed that she was very attractive, with long red hair, pale skin and bright green eyes.

She was tall and slim and browsed the shelves of the store with confidence and grace. She picked up a book out of the romance section as she went, her delicate fingers brushing across the cover gently. I wondered curiously what her name was but felt it too obtrusive to ask her randomly. She made her way up to the counter and put down the book, not saying anything to me or looking me in the eyes. I took the book in my hands and read the title. I blushed slightly as I knew the book and the content it held was slightly erotic. "That'll be seven pounds." I said quietly and she fished around in her purse to find the money.

As she did the bell chimed again and in came James, my best friend as we had previously arranged to have lunch. The girl handed over the money and said her thanks and turned to leave. As she did she caught sight of James and froze in place as did he. They stared at each other for a long while until the girl ran past him and out of the store seemingly in a hurry. James took a minute to recover and then shook his head and walked over to the counter and smiled at me.

He was tall, taller than me and had black hair that never stayed flat on his head and was always messy despite his attempts to tame it. It always looked good though and James was quite handsome, although I would never admit it. James wore round glasses that framed his face and made him look astute and intelligent. And he was. He was at university studying to be a lawyer and was top of his class. He favoured criminal law over civil which was to be expected of a twenty two year old man, who himself was quite mischievous.

"What was that all about?" I asked and James just shrugged, signalling that he didn't want to talk about it. I respected his silence and didn't push it any further as Iknew that James would tell me when he was ready to, if it was important but I suspected it wasn't.  
"Shall we go to lunch?" James asked and I nodded.  
"I'll just let the boss know." I said and made my way through the shelves towards the closed door that is Dumbledore's office.

I knocked tentatively and there was a deep voice that responded with "Come in." I did just that and opened the door to find a man of at least sixty years of age though it was hard to tell as his snow white hair covered his head and most of his face, with his beard reaching down to his waist. He wore his spectacles on the edge of his nose and looked up at me with a smile on his face.  
"What can I do for you?" He asked and I smiled back at the old man. I found him to be very whimsical and forever vague but entertaining none the less.

"I was just wondering if I could go to lunch now." I said not really expecting a no as Dumbledore had always been a kind man, especially to me. "Go, have fun. Put up the closed sign on your way out. I think I might head out for a spot of tea myself. I'll see you when you get back." I nodded and grabbed my bag from the locker/ bath room next door and ran back out to James who was waiting impatiently for me. I slung my bag over my shoulder and flipped the door sign to 'closed' as we made our way out and on to the streets of London. They were full of cars and people as people rushed to and fro to get to lunch meetings or dates or back to various occupations.

They passed various restaurants and café's until they finally found their favourite one. The Room of Requirement was a café by day bar by night and the boys' number one place to eat, drink, dance and hang out. They had a room for everything. They had a pool room, a darts room and bar room, a dancing room, a café room, an art room, a reading room and many more different rooms full of fun and interesting things to do. In the evenings they had live music which they also had a separate room for but the music reached every room anyways so it didn't matter as much.

We sat down at their usual table in the café room and glanced over the menu before we decided we would have the usual. A waiter named Peter came over to take our order and fumbled about as he did so. He was a very timid boy about two years younger and kind of looked like a rat. He saw the two of us and smiled gleefully as he talked to us as if he was a teenager with a crush and rushed to get us whatever we wanted.

"We'll have the usual Peter, please." James said and Peter nodded enthusiastically and scurried off to make it happen.  
"So how's school going?' I asked curiously and James sighed.  
"It's good I guess. I got an internship with a firm for the summer. So that should be fun." He said but he wasn't very enthusiastic.  
"What's wrong? You seem upset."  
"I met someone."

"Oh?"  
"Yeah. She's the girl from the shop. Lily, her name is."  
"She's fit."  
"Yeah I know."  
"Do you now?"

"Yeah." He said with a mischievous smile and I shook my head, laughing at him and his antics.  
"But?" I prompt, wanting to know what the problem is, not seeing one at all.  
"She's complicated. I can't figure her out. One minute's she wants me and the next she doesn't. She runs hot and cold and it's confusing the fuck out of me." He puts is head in his hands and sighs.

"Maybe she's cheating on someone." I say not really filtering my thoughts before I say them.  
"Oh god. I didn't think about that. What if she is?" My expression turns from one of deep thought and contemplation to that of panic.  
"No, of course she isn't. Don't worry. Just talk to her about it. Make her tell you what's happening. Make her understand how you feel about her. It'll work out." I say, covering my tracks and trying to reassure my friend that it will all work out even if he doesn't really think so. I was never good at giving advice and he knows that.

We received our lunch and finished it in record time, enjoying every bit as we usually do and then we go back to work/school. I spent the rest of the afternoon in high spirits as my friend usually lifts me into a happier state. There are more customers in the afternoon than in the morning and at about five o'clock as I was about to close the store a man comes in and starts to browse the shelves. He was tall; broad shouldered and had dark sandy blonde hair.

He moved with grace and easy though lacked confidence, which made his movement confusing but bewitching. He turned around so that I was now in his direct line of sight and made his way over, two books clutched in his hands. I admired his form as he approached, noticing a long scar that ran from his right eyebrow down to the left corner of his lips. He was handsome and his scar only made him look more so, I thought. Iremembered he had been into the shop a couple of times before although he never actually bought anything but I never got tired of looking at him.

He smiled up at me and it met his eyes, lighting up his face and making him seem younger, about my age. He handed the books over to me and our hands touched causing a spark of heat to run up my arm all the way to my face, making me blush. The man smirked as I took the books and rung up the purchase and it was noticeable that the man was trying not to laugh at my reaction to our brief touch.

"What's your name?" He asked and I looked back up at him, unsure why he's asking.  
"Sirius. Sirius Black." I say, my voice weary and shy which was unusual for me as I am very outgoing and confident and some would even say cocky most of the time. 'He's making me nervous' I thought as I put the books in a bag and handed them over to the man.  
"That's a unique name. I like it." He says with another dazzling smile that makes me blush again.

"I'm Remus Lupin." He said and I visibly sighed in relief at the fact that this man didn't recognise my name or if he did he didn't comment on it. "It's nice to meet you Mr Lupin." I say and Remus laughs outright, a heartfelt laugh that sounds like heaven to my ears. 'It would be nice to hear that laugh more often' I thought as I smiled politely at the man.  
"How old do you think I am?" He asked through gasps as he clutched at his stomach.

"I can't really tell actually. How old are you?"  
"Twenty three." He says and I raise my eyebrows. He doesn't look twenty three at all. He looks more like twenty seven or eight but not twenty three. Now that I'm looking at Remus in a new light he looks rather skinny and his clothing hangs off of him a bit, as if he is underfed but his clothing is neat and looks expensive so he's not poor. I wondered at why but didn't ask as it would be impolite to ask a stranger such a personal question.

"You look older than that." I say.  
"I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult. I'll take it as the former but only to feed my ego."  
"If you want." I say and shrug.


End file.
